A physiological study on the toxicity of culture filtrate of Helminthosporium sativum P.K. & P.

Abstract

When symptoms of the leaf-spot disease of barley caused byHelminthosporium sativum could be reproduced by dipping host plants in fungal filtrate, it was thought to trace any correlation that may exist between nitrogenous constituents of the filtrate and its wilt-inducing capacity to test plants (lupin seedlings). The fungus was grown on a modified Fries' No 3 medium with sodium nitrate or ammonium chloride or an equivalent mixture of both as nitrogen source. The nitrogen content of the culture medium and its wilt-inducing capacity were traced over 34 days. The nitrogen content, after reaching a minimum, was found to rise again; the rise being more rapid and bigger in nitrate and ammonium-nitrate media than in ammonium media. Only a partial apparent correlation could be noted between the trend in the wilt-inducing capacity of filtrates obtained at different periods of incubation, and the trend in the change in their nitrogen content. It is suggested that the toxicity of the culture filtrate may be attributed to more than one substance, one of them being a nitrogenous product (possibly of peptide nature). The observed degree of toxicity would therefore depend on the relative amounts of the nitrogenous product and other substances.